My Newest Addition to the Library: Way's Packet Directory

I just wanted to share my joy in a recent book acquisition that I made! After many years of searching, I have my very own copy of Way's Packet Directory by Frederick Way, Jr.  My copy is the1848-1983 hardcover edition with a clean dust jacket!

By Frederick Way, Jr

Fortunately the book is currently in I believe it's 3rd printing as the prices have come down considerably recently I have seen this book sale, not just list but sale for $600.00. I found my copy for $10.00 shipped!! I was so excited.

This book is 640 pages of nothing but Mississippi/Ohio River steamboats with wonderful details. Such as where they were manufactured, who captained them and final disposition of the boats.

I originally got interested in steam wheelers when my fiancee' was selling vintage postcards. I started steering (no pun intended) her towards steamboat postcards and I would do the research on them for her listings. This is also where I learned about the existence of this book and the fact that our local library did not own a copy.  I found this very disheartening, being that we live in a river town.

According to Wikipedia:

Fredrick Way, Jr. (February 17, 1901 - October 3, 1992) was the youngest steamboat captain on the Ohio River and Mississippi River. He was the author of books on the boats that ply the inland waterways. He captained the flat-bottom, stern paddlewheeler, the Delta Queen, from San Francisco, down the Pacific coast, through the Panama Canal, across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Pittsburgh in 1946.

As time permits me, please ask any questions about Mississippi river area Steamboats and I'll look them up for you.

Good Luck Glove Company Metropolis Illinois

The Good Luck Glove Co., with locations in Carbondale, Metropolis, Rosiclare and Vienna. For years, the glove company was the third-largest work glove company in the United States.  The following is a postcard from my collection notifying of shipment of a large order of gloves.  Please if you have any information about the Good Luck Glove Co. leave me a note in the comments below you don't need to log in or anything to leave comments!

Postcard Front
AMERICA'S BEST WORK GLOVE VALUE
Unconditionally Guaranteed
Wear Good Luck Brand Quality Gloves
800 ARMOR
815 IRON FACE

Postcard back
Mailed November 10, 1964
Good Luck Glove Co.
Metropolis, IL

Mailed to:
Atlanta Army & Navy Supply
79 Alabama St. SW
Atlanta, Georgia
Gentlemen:
We are pleased to advise that shipment of 68 dozen gloves was made 11/9/64 against order number 26211

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 13

Hopkinsville Kentuckian
Tuesday, September 8, 1914

Quit Work On Bridge

European War Alleged Cause For Ceasing Construction At Metropolis, Ill.

Paducah, Ky., Sept. 5. --- Work on the Burlington bridge at Metropolis, Ill., twelves miles below here which was started a few weeks ago, was stopped Friday and all of the employees paid and discharged. Semi-official announcement was made that financial difficulty, caused by the European War, compelled the railroad to suspend work indefinitely. When it will be resumed was not stated.



A temporary 1 percent grade line will be constructed from the bridge site to Futrell, six miles from Paducah, and the Burlington, will transfer, using the Illinois Central tracks from Futrell to Paducah, until the bridge is built. At present the Burlington business is being handled across the Ohio River here at a large expense. The sudden announcement caused a shock in business circles here and at Metropolis. The estimated cost of the bridge was three and one-half million dollars.

Read Part 12  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 12

The Paducah Evening Sun
Thursday, July 28, 1910


No Opposition to Bridge, Now

Rivermen satisfied to secure proper location of Burlington's piers.

No further opposition to the width of the spans of the Burlington bridge at Metropolis promised by the river interests. The rehearing at St. Louis settled all of the objections to the bridges, and the river men are well pleased with the privilege extended them of locating the piers. This morning Mr. C. M. Riker, general manager of the West Kentucky Coal Company, stated that he knew there would be no more objections. By having the main span 720 feet in width a steamboat with a large tow will be able to pass under the bridge at any angle. With lights on the piers at night the span will be sufficient width to enable the pilots to judge his distance and pass under the bridge.

Read Part 11   Read Part 13  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 11

Picture of the W.B. Duncan in dry dock

The Paducah Evening Sun
Thursday, July 28, 1910

Transfer Boat Duncan is Ready

Official on his way to inspect craft, which will ferry trains here.

Most of the work of the Illinois Central transfer steamer Duncan, which will ferry trains between Paducah, Brookport and Metropolis pending the erection of the Metropolis bridge, has been completed.

This morning M. K. Barnum, superintendent of the motive power, and R. W. Bell, superintendent of the machinery, of the Illinois Central railroad, arrived in the city from Chicago and made an inspection of the transfer boat. Captain Ed Howard, the veteran steamboat builder, has inspected the Duncan and said that she is one of the best wooden transfer steamers that he has ever seen. The boat is of sufficient weight to carry a large tonnage.

Read Part 10  Read Part 12  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 10

The Paducah Evening Sun
Wednesday, July 27, 1910


Rivermen Will Select Place Of The Bridge Piers

Engineers Approve Site and Adopt Length of Span at St. Louis Meeting

Metropolis People Jubilant Over Result.

Paducah Men Have Returned

To the dictation of towboat pilots and owners was left the location of the piers for the main channel span for the Burlington railroad bridge at Metropolis yesterday by the government board of engineers at St. Louis. The bridge site and width of the span is definite.

This encouraging news was brought home today by Capt. Saunders A Fowler, secretary of the Commercial Club, who returned this morning with County Judge Alben Barkley and State Treasurer Ed Farley from St. Louis after attending the meeting. Mr. Fowler said the result of the meeting is that the board concurred in the action of the engineers at Cincinnati on June 9 in the bridge's location. The span for the main channel will be 700 feet.

The bridge is to be located 1,800 or 2,000 feet below the ferry landing at Metropolis. This is the most feasible site for the foundation and the approaches. The channel span will be 700 feet in the clear at low water mark and the main channel span 600 feet, located in the river. The best position for the piers has been left to the judgment of the rivermen.

Capt. Fowler said a large number of Metropolis people attended the meeting and were jubilant over the result. He said they expressed a warm appreciation to the river interests at Paducah for the support given them in their contentions for the bridge.

Read Part 9   Read Part 11  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 9

The Paducah Evening Sun
July 7, 1910

Illinois Central Transfer Boat Being Rushed and Incline Built to Accomodate Burlington Road

Wish Boat Completed by the 15 of August --- Material on Ground for Incline --- Will be Constructed Quickly.

By September 1 and possibly before the Burlington system will be handling freight in and out of Paducah. Until the bridge is completed over the Ohio river at Metropolis, the railroad will use the inclines of the Illinois Central railroad at Brookport and Paducah. Arrangements for the transfer of freight have been outlined, and the work is being rushed, so that the transfering may begin August 15 and September 1.

The steamer Duncan, owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, is now on the Marine Ways, receiving a general overhauling, and when completed will be used to transfer the cars. When the work was done it was intended to have the transfer boat completed by September 1, but now a request has been received to have the boat ready for service by August 15 if possible.

At the foot of Campbell street to the Ohio river a new incline will be built, so that with the old incline there will be a double track to the transfer boats. Much of the material for the new incline is already on the ground, and shipments are being received daily. An order has been received by the bridge department of the Illinois Central not to begin the construction of the incline yet, but it is expected that the work will begin this month. The incline can be erected in 30 days.

Originally the incline at the foot of Campbell street was double tracked, but now only the single track is used. The old foundations are still solid, and the trestle work can be built on the old foundations.

New hearing.

The rehearing of the protest over the granting of a permit for Burlington bridge at Metropolis, Ill., is set for July 26, at St. Louis. At this time the engineers will hear the objections to the shippers of the Mississippi river and north of the Ohio river. The engineers recommended that the permit be granted when the first hearing was held at Cincinnati last month. At St. Louis it is believed that the opposition to the Bridge will not be as strong as it was at Cincinnati, where the large coal shippers fought the bridge.

It is said that when the double track bridge is completed at Metropolis, much through business will be deverted from the Cairo bridge by the Illinois Central, to the Carbondale division, because the single track on the long approaches to the Cairo bridge already is overcrowded. The Illinois Central between Paducah and Fulton and Paducah and Carbondale will be double tracked and improved to handle the fast traffic between Chicago and New Orleans.

Read Part 8   Read Part 10  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 8

Burlington sternwheeler Northstar pushing caisson VI into position on the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL 1916.  Caisson will be sunk to river bottom and pressurized to keep water out so that railroad bridge piers can be constructed.

The Paducah Evening Sun
Friday, June 10, 1910

Burlington, Big Four, C. E. & I. And L. & N. Will Use Metropolis Bridge, It Developed at Hearing

Louisville and Nashville Surveyors Start to Work in Paducah – N. C. and St. L. Inaugurates New Service.

The Burlington, Big Four, C. E. & I. And L. & N, will cross the bridge at Metropolis, according to gentlemen, who returned from the Cincinnati conference.

Captain Brack Owen said from the testimony put forth yesterday it was clear that the bridge would be crossed by these railroads and probably others. He said that as soon as it was definitely known that the bridge was located and the span decided upon, telegrams were sent immediately to Paducah, Louisville, Chicago, Kansas City and other cities, showing the importance of the meeting. The situation of the span is to be left with the bridge engineers and rivermen. It will either be built in the channel or on the Kentucky or Illinois sides. The Pittsburgh people, Mr. Owen said, are still against the bridge, but he is of the opinion that there will be no delays. The engineers expressed themselves as being ready to start the work this summer. It will require between two and three years to build the bridge.

It is the belief that the Burlington will use the L. & N. tracks, connecting with the N. C. & St. L. road here. Other roads are expected to have surveyors out on the field soon.

River Men Return.

No more elated group of Paducah river and business men ever returned home than the delegation that arrived from Cincinnati early this morning. With the site of the Burlington bridge definitely located at Metropolis, a 700 foot span for the Kentucky side and the assurance of immediate work on the bridge, the Paducah men could wish no better, other than the bridge was just a little closer to Paducah.

The board of engineers at Cincinnati yesterday practically closed the controversy. Attorney Charles K. Wheeler, who spoke in behalf of the local interests, said he never saw a hotter fight against the width of the main span. Although 700 feet was decided upon, the coal company bitterly opposed anything less then 1,000 feet. A large delegation of the combine heads went from Pittsburgh and were strong against 700 feet. The span will be 700 feet in the clear and will be constructed on the Kentucky side, which was deemed the safest. The bridge site was approved and it is thought that no other question will arise.

Pilot W. T. Campbell, of Cairo who returned with the party, said Brookport, Ill, should be complimented for her stand taken in the matter. Messrs. Pell and Charles Ford, representing the Brookport Commercial Club, were present and naturally sought to have the bridge built across the Ohio at that point. They showed much zeal in the matter and are boosting their town.

Secretary Saunders A. Fowler, of the Paducah Commercial Club, and Mayor J. H. Ashcraft remained over at Cincinnati in the interest of the work of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association.

Those who returned this morning were: Messrs. C. S. Bookwalter, Brack Owen, Charles K. Wheeler, W. T. Campbell, of Cairo; George C. Wallace, Capt. John E. Rollins, Pilot Mat Fitzner, Capt Ed Cowling and Henry Rampendahl, of Metropolis, Capt. Joquincy M. Phillips, superintendent of the floating equipment of the Illinois Central Railroad.

Railroads Active.

Since The United States engineers at Cincinnati have approved the plans for the Burlington bridge at Metropolis, Ill,. Activity has commenced among railroads in this vicinity again, and crews of engineers are working on approaches to the bridge. The actual construction will be undertaken just as soon as the preliminaries can be disposed of and the material assembled. It probably will be fall before everything will be ready

This morning the following surveying crew of the Luisville and Nashville railroad arrived from Louisville and began work surveying out of Paducah toward Metropolis landing, the Kenducky end of the bridge: W. P. Pearson, R. L. Schmid, Samuel J. Carpenter, H. E. Moore, S. J. Rand., W. A. J. Weller, J. Montgomery and H. C. Alexander.

The Big Four has already let the contract for it's road bed into Metropolis and the Chicago and Eastern Illinois is only five miles away from the Illinois end of the bridge. The Big Four will give Paducah direct connection east to Buffalo; the Burlington into St. Louis and the C. & E. L. into Chicago.

The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, which recently strengthened all it's bridges and road bed, is doing away with all trestles and is now putting concrete bridges over the bayous near Union Station, this city. Work of increasing the capacity of it's terminals here also will be pushed since the company has secured more ground.

The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis also is ready to announce better train service between Paris, Tenn., and Paducah, when a train will leave Paris at 6:30 in the morning and arrive in Paducah before 9 o'clock, leaving on the return trip in the evening. Now shoppers from Paris cannot get here before 1:30 in the afternoon.

Read Part 7   Read Part 9  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 7

Side dump cars unloading dirt for construction of earth approach fills for CB&Q bridge over the Ohio on the Metropolis, IL side 1915

The Paducah Evening Sun
Thursday, May 10, 1910


Burlington Gets Right To Bridge At Metropolis

General Council Grants Franchise to Close Streets to Approach.

Illinois Central Clears Site for Station.

Metropolis, Ill., May 10. --- (Special)--- More evidence of the intention of the Herrin Southern (Burlington system) to build a bridge here over the Ohio River came to light, when the city council last night passed an ordinance, permitting the road to close the streets from the river to Eighth street, and build the approach to the bridge. The same right of approach to the bridge was granted the Illinois Central, and the right to build the new downtown station. Work is progressing on the Herrin Southern line, and the buildings have been wrecked on the site of the Illinois Central station near the river front.

Read Part 6   Read Part 8  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 6

Supports for Metropolis, IL approach to CB&Q bridge during construction 1916





The Paducah Evening Sun
Saturday, October 2, 1909


Burlington Bridge is Located at Metropolis and Soundings Being Taken for Piers – Wabash Coming

Dredge Whistle Calls Out Fire Department of Illinois Town When it Arrives to Start Work.

Metropolis, Ill,. Oct. 2. --- In a recent conversation a gentleman high up in the local affairs of the Burlington said to one of our prominent citizens that the Burlington people do not desire to sell the dwelling houses they recently bought in Metropolis --- they are to be used by the company in housing their bridge employees during the period of construction.

The boat now being used on the river is for the location of bridge piers and not for the location of a bridge crossing, as that has already been definitely and finally fixed.

During this conversation the Burlington official said that the railroad wants this man's property as the road needs it for bridge purposes and therefore, the gentleman should look for another location for a home at once.

The bridge crossing will be at the foot of Broadway running directly through Franklin Park.

Alarmed the Town.

Metropolis, Ill., Oct. 2. (Special) – The whistle for the Burlington barge that is to drill for the foundation of the piers of the bridge, arrived and was placed into shape Wednesday evening. Capt. Joe Woodard then blew the salute to the town. It was mistaken, however for a fire alarm and the fire department responded and made a record run to the waters' edge to find that it was only the whistle saluting the town, and announcing that they were now ready to begin on the pier location. They are now in active operation. They have selected as a bridge sight the front of Broadway and if a substantial bottom can be found that will be the place where the bridge will be. One of the head officials was here this week and let out the news that the location of the bridge would be here at Metropolis and that was the first thing settled in building this road. He said that the houses recently purchased by the railroad would be used as dwellings for bridge workers. The road is being pushed from both ends. About six miles of dump at this end is being made by three different sub-contractors and as many at the Herrin end. This will be an up-to-date road for they are putting in their trussels and water ways in concrete.

After the road is complete they will run tracks to the rivers edge to handle the river trade until their bridge is completed when, the last reports say, it will cross and connect with the Tennessee Central and a town proposed to be located at the Kentucky end of the bridge and called South Metropolis.

This road will then pass through Paducah and continue south and connect with the Burlington in Tennessee, making a through line to the gulf. These are the plans as they now are, so far as is known, and will be carried out unless circumstances change them.

It is reported that the Burlington has more then 200 acres of land out of Metropolis. This is evidently for the purpose of erecting shops here. The Burlington has opened the way for one of the largest railroad terminals here in the central west.

Wabash Is Coming.

A few days ago two well-dressed strangers, supposed to be Wabash people, ate their lunch at the lunch room of W. H. Hayden. While eating they were talking of the railroad prospects for this place. One of them was heard to say that the Burlington would have to hurry or the Wabash would beat them here. It is a known fact that the Wabash has been surveying south from Harrisburg with the intention of crossing the river here, when the bridge is completed, but their direct course is not known, but it is supposed that they are also looking forward to entering the south for a part of the southern trade.

Read Part 5  Read Part 7  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 5

Photo of the 1916 flood of the Ohio River at the construction site of the CB&Q Bridge on the Metropolis, IL side.  Notice the wood falsework under the truss to support it while it was being assembled in the air

The Paducah Evening Sun
Wednesday, August 25, 1909


Pilots' Protest Declared “Bosh”

No Local River Men Think Petition Probable.

Petition against the Burlington building at Metropolis Would Be Fruitless Measure.

It must have been an imaginary petition that the morning paper said “has been circulated among and signed by the masters and pilots of practically all the river craft plying between Paducah and Cairo” against the building of the Burlington bridge across the Ohio at Metropolis.

“Why, that is all monkey wrench talk,” said a prominent river captain this morning. “Who said anything about a petition against the bridge,” responded another captain this morning when his attention was called to the “disclosure” today. “I haven't heard anything about the 'new phase' or seen anything of a petition,” said another steamboatman this morning. Another veteran remarked that it wouldn't do any good to get up a petition against the building of the bridge, as railroads, as a matter of fact, have everything their way.”

The alleged petition caused every riverman to laugh up his sleeve this morning, and such a thing as getting up a petition is regarded as an absurdity. If a petition is afloat around Paducah not one river captain or pilot has seen or heard anything of it.

When questioned concerning the “immense danger” to craft plying from here to
the Egyptian city a veteran smiled. “The river is one mile wide and very deep at Metropolis,” he said, and the only objection I can imagine that rivermen would have would be the width of the bridge spans. The spans of the Cairo bridge are 500 feet apart and I take it that the spans of the Burlington bridge will be about the same width. Although this is sufficiently wide it sometimes looks like you are going into a 50 foot span with a big tow of coal. The site will be a most satisfactory one for a bridge, and even if any attempt to circulate a petition is made it will be of little avail as the railroad has everything cinched with the government and the engineers figures are only regarded. The slight objection to the width of the span wouldn't cut any figure.

In speaking of the “petition” another riverman said “bosh.” He was of the opinion that there wouldn't be enough signatures in Paducah to make up a satisfactory petition to lay before the secretary of war at Washington. He said it would be folly to attempt such a thing as to stop a bridge from going across the river at any point, “It is generally the custom of rivermen to get up a petition every time a bridge is going to be constructed, but they have about gotten away from this practice seeing that it is useless and no heed is paid it by the government.”

Read Part 4   Read Part 6  Read Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 4

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) bridge crossing of the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL holds many numerous outstanding facts not the least of which is that the first Train rumbled across it's mile long length on December 15, 1917.

 Penny Postcard depicting the CB&Q RR bridge from the Illinois shore

Aerial photo of the CB&Q RR bridge from the Kentucky Shore

Some trivia facts about the CB&Q bridge:

The design of the bridge consists of the following types:

1. Deck Plate-girder approach spans
2. One riveted, 9 panel Parker Through Truss
3. Five pin-connected, Pennsylvania Through Trusses
4. One pin-connected, 8 panel Pratt Deck Truss
5. Total length of the bridge is 6,424 feet
6. The largest span stretches 708 feet
7. At 708 feet the bridge contains the longest pin-connected simple through truss span in the world

Read Part 3   Go to Part 5  Go Back to Part 1

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 3

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) bridge crossing of the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL holds many numerous outstanding facts not the least of which is that the first Train rumbled across it's mile long length on December 15, 1917.

This postcard depicts the CB&Q RR bridge from the Kentucky shore

Building the bridge

The Metropolis bridge project was directed by Charles Hopkins Cartlidge while Supervision and plan approval was done by the noted consulting engineer Ralph Modjeski.

Work commenced in 1914 by the Union Bridge & Construction Co, but was halted due to World War I. Work resumed July 1915. Pressurized Caissons were sunk into the river by digging material out from underneath them and their weight would push them down into the hole created. Some of these caissons broke depths of over 110' below water level. There were 2 deaths attributed to caisson work on this project not including the June 1916 death of Charles Hopkins Cartlidge, who contracted pneumonia after many decents into the caissons to supervise the work.

At the beginning of 1916 high water halted work for 2 months. September 1916 All but one of the piers was mostly completed and one of the short trusses was standing. October 1916 Timber falsework for building the truss over the main channel was completed and the main span was completed in December of that year. And as stated previously the first train crossed on December 15, 1917. The bridge was completed in April 1918 and passenger service was allowed to pass over it (passenger service was prohibited until “the last rivet was installed”). Total cost of completion was $4,000,000.

Read Part 2   Continue on to Part 4  Go to page 1 and start over

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 2

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) bridge crossing of the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL holds many numerous outstanding facts not the least of which is that the first Train rumbled across it's mile long length on December 15, 1917.

This penny postcard portrays an artists rendering of CB&Q RR bridge

The Metropolis Bridge Design

A critical design factor of the CB&Q Bridge at Metropolis was The US War Department's requirement for a channel width of 700 feet. Expecting traffic to grow over the years, Burlington wanted a double track bridge that could support Cooper E-90 live loading. This showed a tremendous amount of foresight for the day (Cooper E-90 design loading is currently specified by several railroads for permanent structures that may be expected to be in service for 100+ years).

A complicating factor at the Metropolis site was that bedrock was approximately 230 feet below low water level. This depth prohibited founding the piers on the bedrock, instead the piers are founded on a thick quartz sand layer at approximately 75 feet below low water level. Founding the piers on a substrate that could allow them to settle over time prohibited many bridge designs. CB&Q Chose to build a Simple Truss Bridge designed and built using Silicon Steel instead of the normal High Carbon Steel and specifying an even stronger nickel steel for certain members of the bridge allowing the bridge to be made lighter.

Read Part 1  Continue on to Part 3

The CB&Q Metropolis Railroad Bridge part 1

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) bridge crossing of the Ohio River at Metropolis, IL holds many numerous outstanding facts not the least of which is that the first Train rumbled across it's mile long length on December 15, 1917.

This picture, taken from the Kentucky shore, shows the yet unfinished bridge

So what lead up to Metropolis being the site of such an enormous undertaking?

The CB&Q Railroad was based out of Chicago, IL. Quincy Railroad aquired a line in 1876 from Chicago to East St. Louis. In 1901 James J. Hill acquired control of the Burlington and wanted easy access to Southern Illinois Coal. So, in 1904 Burlington acquired a 122 mile line from Concord, IL to Centralia, IL. In 1905 the CB&Q began pushing towards Metropolis to link up with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad (NC&StL) in Paducah. CB&Q reached Metropolis in 1910. The Paducah & Illinois Railroad (P&I) was formed of a partnership between CB&Q and NC&StL to build a mile long bridge over the Ohio and 15 miles of track to connect the 2 Railroads.

Continue to part 2

Shall Illinois Preserve the Ruins of Old Fort Massac?

The St. Louis Republic., February 22, 1903, Magazine Section

Shall Illinois Preserve the Ruins of Old Fort Massac?

Suggestion has been made officially to the legislature and it is probably that $10,000 will be appropriated for the purpose - Civilization has quietly ebbed away from Picturesque stronghold of pioneer days until tree-grown entrenchments are all that remain - History of the Fortress is closely interwoven with that of the west.

Picture captions (images are too dark to see):

[image 1] J. T. Brown 74 years old the only citizen of Metropolis who remembers when the palisades were standing

[image 2] Site of the Old Fort Massac showing the intrenchments and trees which have grown up since the formerly important military station was abandonded

[image 3] Judge B. C. Brown Metropolis authority on the history of Fort Massac


[image 4] The one time ramparts as they appear from the river bank


[image 5] Looking down the Ohio from the Fort.  Paducah Packet Approaching


By a staff correspondent

Metropolis, Ill. Feb 20. - Shall Illinois preserve as a reminder of its storied days that are gone, the tree-grown intrenchments upon the banks of the Ohio which mark the site of historic Fort Massac?  The request has been officially made to the Legislature, and it is probable that $10,000 will be appropriated for the purpose.


The moldered ramparts of this frontier fortress are all that remain of three one-time western strongholds.  The onward rush of civilization has buried Fort Dearborn under the city of Chicago. The Mississippi has obliterated Kaskaskia, washed it out of existence.


And Massac - Massac was forgotten.  Its blockhouse rotted and fell to the ground;  its stockade disappeared, and its soldiers and their descendants dispersed.  Trees sprouted and grew within its circumference.  Its wells became filled with brush, its terraces uneven and ragged.  It became like the uneven summit of any other hummock along the Ohio's course, so that knowledge of the fort is necessary to recognize, in the quadrangle of rough and overgrown earth ridges, a spot historical and important to the winning of the West.


Civilization marched in upon and smothered Fort Dearborn, but quietly ebbed away from Fort Massac.  As a location for a town, the more level field a mile distant better suited modern existences.  So it was there that the small city of Metropolis gradually and imperceptibl, by some sixty years of effort, accumulated it's 3,500 population.


INTEREST REVIVED BY DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION


But from this forgotton site - forgotten until the Daughters of the Revolution inaugurated the present revival - is to be seen as beautiful a bit of a riverscape as the traverler could wish to behold.


To the south, along the Ohio, the view is unobstructed for a full eighteen miles, and to the north the eye can almost discern Paducah, twelve miles away.  The river is all shades of yellow and red, bright and glowing in the middle, where the current ripples shimmer back the sun's rays, and dark under the shadow of the forest-girt banks where quiet eddies reflect the trees.


The View called to mind many a tradition and story that are indissulably linked to the bight of country.  It seemed that Daniel Boone or Elmon Kenton, or some less-famous early-day adventurer, would issue from that Kentucky woods and essay to swim the mile-wide river, rifle and clothing secured to a white-oak log.  Or that Tecumseh, the Indian Chief, or another such red warrior chiefain, with his braves treading single-file through the leaf-paved forest, would push through the brake to the water side, draw forth a craftily concealed canoe, and proceed under the sheltering shadow of the shore upon some war expedition or buffalo hunt.


Then, again, the Chief might be "Chinggashnook," father of Uncas - the Latter "The Last of the Mohicans" - who, with "Hawkeye," the best pioneer of fiction, set their faces toward the unknown West, driven from their former haunts in the Adirondacks and Mohawk Valley by the encroachments of settlers.


These creations of Fenimore Cooper's novels start from the ground.  Chinggashkook, a towering frame, grim face, a lined map of adventure and exposure, of almost a century's experience among scenes wild and free;  Hawkeye, the typical frontiersman, to whom is known every secret of the forest and plain - both thoughts in the past, are pushing further into solitude, there to die surrounded by nature, undisturbed by the invaders who sought new lands, not for love of them, but for "what was in it."


The booming whistle of the river steamboat sounds.  It is the Dick Fowler the Cairo-Paducah packet, announcing herself before Metropolis, not before Old Fort Massac.  The imagery summoned up when standing upon these old terraces dissolves.  Then another whistles, octaves higher.  The Illinois Central, from St. Louis.  These signals scatter away these chimerical illusions, ghosts, if you willand transform the Fort Massac quadrangle into a queerly formed grasey eminence, a bit of river pasturage garrisoned by cows.


MASSAC COUNTY NAMED AFTER OLD FORT


Such idle, conjured, sentimental images put to flight, you go back to Metropolis where, notwithstanding the fact that everybody is at least striving to be up to date, you will have much thrust upon you concerning Fort Massac.  Massac County takes its name from the fort and necessarily this offered a cue for searching Inquiry as to the stronghold's history.  By the conjunction of this and that man's personal recollection, and the testimony of Government documents, this history has been piled up, fact upon fact, detail upon detail.  The good people of Metropolis soon hand you so much itemised information that the romantic is squelched under the burden and the load seems dry as dust.


Judge Ben O. Jones of Metropolis is most learned of his townsmen on the subject.  Redd Green of Cairo, owner of the property, naturally is interested in the theme.  J. T. Browne of Metropolis now in his seventy-fourth year, is the only one who can speak as one whose eyes have seen.  He remembers when the stockade was standing, and he tells that his mother, the daughter of Captain Wilcox - a United States Army officer, then in command was married within its walls.  Two histories of the fort have been written, and recently Mrs M. T. Brown of Bloomington, State secretary of the D. A. R., collected the information into a paper, which was read before the State Historical Society.


A little time after the first dull thud, the consequence of my tumble from a dream castle into a thorny bed of mere data, this mass begins to shape itself, take life and the phantasmagoria of the past reappear, marching in and out of the gates of Fort Massac.


Spanish soldier, Jesuit priest, French soldier, chevalier, coureur de bola, Indian chief and then, last but not the least, the American, our trappers and hunters, the pioneers, and, after them, the soldiers of the Revolution, they who bought freedom with their blood.


Famous names are not lacking - General George Rogers Clark, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, General James Wilkinson, Aaron Burr and Blennerhassett.


DE SOTO IS IN THE SHADOWY PROCESSION


Even old De Soto is in the shadowy procession.  Tradition has it that his men first recognised the military advantages of the site, and that, having ascended the Ohio from the Mississippi "some thirteen leagues," they built a rude structure, as a temporary protection against Indians.  But if they came, they found nothing of what they sought - gold - and, after a short period of resting and hunting the buffalo, their adventurous spirit led them far afield in other wanderings.


First comes the Spaniard;  then the Frenchman, the latter more of a colonizer and aiming at establishing another link to the line of forts, beginning with Fort Niagara and including Fort Du Quesne, which were to restrict the English colonies to their holdings along the coast.  It is in 1702 or 1703 that it becomes a post, and it is founded by a Monsieur Juchereau de St. Damie, whose train included some thirty-four Canadians and a priest - Father Mermet, who was the first "Black Gown" - thus the Indians termed priests - to preach Christianity upon the Lower Ohio.


By 1781 the fort is fully established and is a trading point of importance.  Ten thousand buffalo hides are stored within it's walls awaiting transportation.  Two-score coureur de bols, free spirits learned in the mysteries of the wilderness, are lounging within it's walls.  Two-score French soldiers are there, and their commandant, a cavalier lacking not for blue blood, an heir of name but no estates, who in the King's name fared into the Western expanse.


It is winter, a cold, hard winter, and the Ohio is frozen over.  From the Kentucky shore appear on the ice ten or a dozen shaggy bodies - bears sporting upon the ice.  For once the coureur de bols are not suspicious.  They and some of the soldiers leave the fort to stalk the game, and their companions descend to the shore to watch.


Then a full hundred of savages, who had waited in the rear, sheltered behind trees and brush, rush to the attack.  But one man escaped.  He conceals himself in a hear-by cave and watches the Indians burn the rough fortification and destroy or carry away the 10,000 buffalo hides.


GREEDY ENGLISH ENCROACH UPON THE FRENCH


The english, filled with a thirst of conquest - the Anglo-Saxon spirit - encroaches upon the French west of the Alleghenies.  They build a trading post not far from Fort Du Quesne, which is burned by the French in 1752. Then follows the war of 1756.  The school-book-heralded defeat of Braddock gives temporary luster to the French arms, but elsewhere the French are beaten.


The French Western flotilla retreats down the Ohio until they reach our old fort.  The name at this date is Fort Assumption.  It has been rebuilt on a small scale after the massacre.  But now it is enlarged into a respectable fortress, with cannon and blockhouse.  It is given a stronger stockade and bastions.  The French are to rally here and hold to their claim of all the territory in the Mississippi Valley.  A christening is held and Fort Assumption, because of the slaughter of 1731, becomes Fort Massacre, or Fort Massac.

But the French were not to maintain sovereignty.  The treaty of 1763 was admission of defeat, and among the forts ceded to Great Britain is enumerated the following;  "Thirteen leagues from the Mississippi, on the left bank of the Ohio, is Fort Massac or Assumption, built in 1757 or 1758, a little below the mouth of the Cherokee (the Tennessee).  It is of consequence for the English to preserve it, as it secures the communication between the Illinois and Fort Pitt."

But the English do not think it of consequence to preserve it, which fact worked well for General George Rogers Clark, who was to come this way later.  An English officer, a Captain Gordon, was sent down the Ohio and accepted the surrender of the post, but made no effort to garrison it, or continue it as a frontier stronghold.

General Clark comes with his indomitable 151.  The War of the Revolution is more than half over, and he conceives plans to secure the Northwest to the Union.  He unfurls the Stars and Stripes upon Illinois ground for the first time at Fort Massac.  Thence to Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes, where he scores his three memorable victories.  The middle West is won.  Had the British manned Fort Massac, the tale probably had been different.

AT EVERY MILE A TREE IS BLAZED

From Massac to Kaskaskia is an old trail.  At every mile a tree is blazed, and this mark of the ax is the only token of the roadway.  But the 151 are accustomed to such traveling, and their way is made and their deeds accomplished.  They paved the future for the Louisiana Purchase.

Washington is President, and the thirteen States are free and under the banner of the free.  Intrigue stirs the capital - the French Minister, Genet, plans two expeditions to invade the Spanish dominion in Louisiana and Florida, and issues commissions to Americans who secretly recruit troops.  The one expedition must proceed down the Ohio.  Governor Shelby of Kentucky refuses to interfere; he is in sympathy.  General Washinton takes action, the fruition of which is the rehabilitation of Fort Massac.

General Wayne is ordered to send a detachment from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) to Fort Massac which shall intercept any unlicensed foray.  Major Thomas Doyle is selected for the task.  Later, General Wayne himself appears at the fort, and the foreign machinations are defeated.

Indian warfare follows, and a repetition of the original massacre is many a time threatened.  This is the day of Boone and Fenton, and the record of the long conflict between Indian and white claimant of the soil again is a page red with blood.  But the backbone of Indian strength is broken at the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1796.  The Illinois prairie is gone forever from the tawny race.  "Hawkeye" sought solitude out in the prairie, but the woodsmen and the plainsmen soon can find no home here; this is destined to be the State of Illinois, farm land worth $100 an acre

The genius of Aaron Burr is tottering to it's fall, and part of this tragedy centers at Fort Massac.  Thence is the famous Burr expedition to the Southwest and Mexico to have it's nucleus.  Here he will meet Blennerhassett and the scheme to seize the throne of the Montesumes will be evolved.  General Wilkinson and the Kentuckians, up to Governor Shelby himself, are parties to the plan.  Burr arrives in 1805.  He departs, only to be arrested at Fort Stoddard, subsequently to face trial for treason.

STRENGTHENED AND GARRISONED IN 1812

The War of 1812 sees the fort strengthened and garrisoned, but it played a minor part.  Its day by this time was practically gone, its purposes served.  Its stockade wis allowed to disintegrate, its blockhouse has no tenants.  In 1841 it springs for the moment into prominence.  A board of army officers recommens it as the most suitable site for a Western armory.  but the Government is dilatory in acting, and the armory eventually goes to Rock Island.

The Civil War breaks out, and the old fort almost as deserted as it is to-day.  No sound of conflict reaches its sequestered ominence.  Yet on the open plot of ground immediately back of the intrenchments Union soldiers are drilling.  These fighters for the preservation of the United States march, wheel, halt, form in fours, in twos, in single file, advance, retreat, kneel, aim and fire - all in mimicry, but in preparation for their small part in the great struggle.  And where they drilled Revolutionary soldiers had drilled, and before that, the Spaniard and the Frenchmen.

Now we are come to the day that the cows graze upon the drillground - the present.  Is there anything of Fort Massac historical interest omitted?  Yes, there is, "Old Fort Massac," reflected Frank Corlies of Metropolis.  "Yep, there's where we did our courtin' years agone.  It's a mile or so from town, and a pleasant stroll of an evening, so when we was young lads, out yonder we'd walk with our sweethearts."

So for many a citizen of Metropolis Fort Massac has a greater significance than mere history can give.  Since there at Fort Massac, in the moonlight, beside the Ohio's Yellow flood, young hearts were stirred to thoughts of love - which was well enough.

HASTINGS MacADAM

Please see:  Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis, IL dedicated Nov 5, 1908 by the DAR

Fort Massac State Park, Metropolis, IL dedicated Nov 5, 1908 by the DAR

Fort Massac Illinois first state park

The emphasis for preserving Fort Massac and making it Illinois first state park is owed completely to the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Their work in this endeavor secured the original 24 acres in 1903 by the State of Illinois and on November 5th 1908 it was officially dedicated.

To understand why the fort was saved you need only read this article from The St. Louis Republic., February 22, 1903, Magazine Section: "Shall Illinois Preserve the Ruins of Old Fort Massac?"
 
The following images are some that I have collected over the years.

Grand Entrance to Massac Park, Metropolis, Ill.

Fort Massac (State) Park, Metropolis, Ill.
H. J. Humma, Publisher

Fort Massac of Revolutionary and Indian War Fame, Metropolis, Ill.
Hand Colored
Curtis Drug Co.

Massac Park and Rogers Monument from River, Metropolis, Ill.

General View of Ft. Massac, Metropolis, Ill.

unknown Girl standing by cannon

View up River Ohio from Ft. Massac, Metropolis, Ill

The Paducah Evening Sun

Thursday Evening November 5, 1908

Monument to Gen. George Rogers Clark unveiled this afternoon at Fort Massac near Metropolis

Fifty Excursionists from Paducah attend ceremonies - descendants of Clark family present.


Paducah is represented by fifty citizens at the unveiling ceremonies of the monument erected at Ft. Massac, Metropolis, in honor of George Rogers Clark. The unveiling ceremony was held at 2 o'clock this afternoon at Fort Massac park. The Paducah delegation went to Metropolis on the George Cowling this morning at 10 o'clock and will return this evening at 6:30 o'clock. The Paducah chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, attended the ceremonies in a body and the Paducah chapter was entertained at dinner by the Metropolis chapter D. A. R.

Mrs. W. G. Whitefield and Mr George C. Wallace, great-great niece and great-great nephew of George Rogers Clark, attended the unveiling. Those who went to Metropolis from here were:

Mesdames Eli G. Boone, James Baldwin, Edward Bringhurst, Mary Boswell, L. S. DuBois, Armour Gardner, George B. Hart, David G. Morrell, Laura Mitchell, Sallie Morrow, Nancy Moore, M. B. Nash, Edmund M. Post, Roy McKinney, S. B. Pulliam, Luke Russell, Hubbard S. Wells, I. O. Walker, Hal Walters, T. E. Holland, Paul Privince, Dr Delia Caldwell; Misses Mattie Fowler, May Edna Martin, Anne Sherr II Baird, Elizabeth Caldwell, Emily Morrow, Mildred Terrell and Harry Williamson, and Messers. Eli G. Boone, Dr. D. G. Murrell, Rev. S. B. Moore, W. G. Whitefield, Capt. J. A. Williamson, Major J. H. Ashcraft, Dr. Harry Williamson and H. S. Wells.

The unveiling was performed by Mrs Batrice Chouteau Turner, a great-great grand niece of General Clark. Governor Deneen, Secretary of State Rose, Senator Helm, Prof. Blair. of the University of Illinois and the Rev. T. D. Latimer are on the program. Several hundred members of the Illinois State D. A. R. went to Metropolis from Jacksonville, where the annual meeting was concluded yesterday.

The Chicago Eagle
Saturday, November 14, 1908

Clark Monument Dedicated

Deneen Speaks at Celebration in Honor of Explorer.

The dedication of Fort Massac State Park and of the monument to George Rogers Clark near Metropolis Thursday drew 3,000 persons from Illinois and other States.  Virginia and Kentucky were largely represented.  Washington D. C., Chicago, Bloomington, Springfield and Jacksonville all sent representatives.  The exercises were conducted by the Illinois Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Mrs. Mathew T. Scott of Bloomington, regent for Illinois, presided.  Gov. Deneen delivered the principal address of the day, and received the park and the monument on behalf of the State.  The park is on the bank of the Ohio River.  The monument, surrounded by cannon and fountains, is erected on the site of old Fort Massac.  George Rogers Clark, on his way to Kaskaskia, entered the Illinois country with his regiment at the mouth of Fort Massac creek, one mile above the site of this fort, on June 28, 1778.  It was probably here that a flag, representing the sovereignty of the United States, was first unfolded in this State.

Metropolis, IL - January 29, 1918 Ohio River Ice Gorge

From postcard:
Scene, Ohio River Ice Gorge
Metropolis, Ill., January 29, 1918
Copyright 1918
F.A. Gregory, Metropolis, Ill.
150

This shot appears to be taken from the newly built CBNQ Railroad Bridge. and is a real photo postcard printed by AZO

Of interesting note is that WWI was raging on and this blizzard which caused this ice jam at Metropolis took precedence in the papers of the day. This storm was unparalleled until the Blizzard of 1978.

The New York Times
Published January 14, 1918

Chicago, Jan. 13. -- Picks and shovels, wielded by hundreds of thousands of volunteer workers and tens of thousands of municipal and railway employees, today succeeded in breaking the absolute traffic tie-up in Chicago and the Middle West which had been caused by the blizzard that swept over this region Friday and Saturday.

Men, women, and children bent willingly to the task of breaking traffic ways through the deep snow, while sunshine from a cloudless sky enabled them to make such progress that tonight railroads entering Chicago operated the first outgoing trains since yesterday afternoon, and from many cities came reports that the volunteer workers had so opened streets and roads that delivery traffic was able to penetrate the storm-swept district, thereby ameliorating conditions which had threatened fuel and food shortages.

No railway schedules were formed, but practically every road operating from here managed to send out at least one train.  Reports from outlying territory indicated that a majority of the scores of trains stalled in the snow drifts yesterday gradually were proceeding toward their destinations and that by tomorrow, with the present clear weather prevailing, all lines would be open.  Several through trains from the East and a few from the West arrived today, twenty-four to thirty-six hours late.

Stock Trains Rescued

The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy closed all local freight yards, so as to release the men for work in clearing the tracks.  The Chicago switch yards were opened, and scores of freight stock trains blocked on the outskirts of the city were brought in today.

Railroad officials announced that the usual number of trains could not be operated before tomorrow night.  The ones sent out tonight were made up late in the afternoon and sent out whenever it was thought there was a chance for them to get through.  No effort was made to arrange a schedule.

The Twentieth Century Limited from New York, due yesterday, arrived late tonight, carrying a party of New york bankers, including Otto H. Kahn, who was to have addressed a bankers' meeting in Milwaukee tonight.

In Chicago the situation, although improving, was still forbidding.  It is still impossible to make deliveries of provisions in many districts.  The city had been practically without milk since yesterday, and dairies reported today that only preferred deliveries to hospitals and to houses where there were children, would be made tomorrow.

heading many of the volunteer digging brigades today were women - some clad in bloomers or overalls.  In some districts the women were out at 4 o'clock in the morning.  They were assisted by thousands of children.  Schools will be closed this week until the streets are cleared.  Releasing some 60,000 children for work in shoveling snow.

Though many apartment houses are without coal, it is thought that tomorrow night will see a danger of a serious coal famine averted.  Many cars of coal were brought in from the outskirts of the city today and there is no shortage in the supply.  The difficulty in making deliveries is the only danger.

Fire Warnings Issued

City officials tonight issued another warning of the danger of fire, because of the inability of the fire wagons to get through many streets, and volunteer bucket brigades have been formed.  Police today made a house-to-house canvass, warning every one to keep buckets of water handy, and seeing to the enforcement of the city ordinances regarding clearing sidewalks.

Eighteen deaths in this territory are known to have resulted from the storm.  The temperature has been rising slowly throughout the district since Saturday afternoon, the wind has died down and indications are that there will be nothing of consequence to handicap the workers immediately, according to the Weather Bureau.

Steamboat Report: George Cowling - built in Metropolis, IL

The Steamer George Cowling at Metropolis, IL landing
loading the Christian Church Sunday Excursion August 28, 1908 (year is somewhat obscured)

News stories about the Cowling:

Taken from The Massac Journal-Republican:Volune 51-No. (Section 2) (Pages 9-16)
The Illustrated Industrial Edition
Thursday, August, 10, 1916

The Steamer George Cowling, a Metropolis owned boat, is one of the most popular on the Ohio. Capt. E.J. Cowling is owner and Captain of the boat. John Brady is clerk and Mr. Berryman is the pilot and Chas. Dassing, engineer. All of whom live in Metropolis, These gentlemen are courteous and attentive to all duties, hence the Cowling does a splendid business and is one of the most reliable boats on the western waters. The Cowling makes two round trips to Paducah daily, leaving Metropolis at 7:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., leaving Paducah at 11: a.m. and 4:30 p.m. This schedule is conveniently arranged for those making quick trips to Paducah and return.

Mr. E.J. Cowling is closely affiliated and identified with the leading interests of Metropolis and is Vice-President of the First National Bank. He is one of our most progressive citizens and delights in the growth and prosperity of this city. The Jouranl-Republican is pleased to have him and his popular boat represented in the big Industrial edition of this paper.

The Paducah Evening Sun
Thursday June 24 (1909?)

The steamer George Cowling will make three trips between Paducah, Brookport and Metropolis next Sunday, June 20, leaving Paducah at 9:30 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm.  Returning will leave Metropolis at 1 pm, and 5 pm.  Round trip 25 cents.  White people only.  For a pleasant afternoon's outing, take the two o'clock boat.

Other pictures of the Cowling from the web:

Edgar Hayes "The Cowling" 1975 (location: Metropolis Public Library)

Steamer George Cowling, Sternwheeler, built in 1904 sank in 1921, raised and renamed the Alton (location Metropolis Public Library)

 The George H. Cowling 88 ton sternwheeler, built 1896 in Metropolis, IL (location Metropolis Public Library)

Steamboat Report: Steamer J.S. excursion boat burned June 25, 1910

Steamer "J.S." Metropolis, ILL
hand colored
Curtis Drug Co.

News about the J.S.:

The New York Times: Published June 27, 1910

THREE EXCURSIONISTS DEAD.;
Rest of 1,500 on Steamer J.S. Get Ashore When She Burns.

LA CROSSE, Wis., June 26, 1910 -- Only three persons out of 1,500 lost their lives Saturday night through the burning in the Mississippi River of the excursion steamer J.S., according to officers of the Acme Packet Company, owner of the vessel, after a careful search and rechecking of passengers to-day.  While five other persons were severely hurt in the panic, and fifty more were cut and bruised in escaping from the boat before it burned to the water, those who went through the experience of fire and water declare that the small number of casualties seems marvelous to them.

Prompt work by the crew and coolheaded men among the passengers in controlling the frantic people after the first alarm of fire was sounded was all that prevented hundreds of persons from jumping into the river in midstream.  Mrs. Emma Randall of New Albion, Iowa, was the only one who broke through the guard on the edge of the decks.  Twenty men had arms outstretched to grasp her when she plunged from the upper deck into the water and drowned.  Her body was not recovered.

An unidentified woman was drowned while leaving the steamer.  John Plane of Waukon, Iowa, was locked in the boats brig in the hold for disorderly conduct, and in the excitement of the panic no one thought to release him.  His charred body is in the river with the hulk of the steamer, which sank after the boat had burned to the water.

Many thrilling stories of escape are told by the passengers, who all reached their homes to-day after each had sought out friends and relatives from the confusion that followed the fire and the hasty landing on Bad Axe Island, twenty-five miles south of La Crosse, Wisconsin, where the steamer was beached ten minutes after the fire started.  It is said that a cigarette stub started the flames under a stairway, but nothing definite has been ascertained regarding the origin of the fire.

Although the scramble to shore on Bad Axe Island was hazardous and unpleasant, comparatively good order prevailed.  All night long boats carried the stranded passengers to Lansing, Iowa, where most of them live, but it was well into Sunday before the last excursionist was removed from the island.

The loss to the Acme Packet Company is $60,000.  Nearly every passenger on the steamer lost clothing, bundles, money, jewelry, and other valuables in the rush for land, and it is said that this combined loss will aggregate $10,000.

The steamer J. S. had been in commission many years as an excursion boat.  It took it's load Saturday from Lansing, Iowa to La Crosse, Wisconsin and was returning Saturday night when the fire started.

The wreck of the steamer J.S. burned June 24, 1910. Now lying in the Mississippi River north of Victory, Wis.  Over 1100 people escaped from this boat, with the loss of only two lives.

Salvage effort of the J.S.

Gov. Str. David Tipton raising the boilers of the sunken Str. J.S.

Magnificent excursion Str. J.S. which burned on the evening of June 25, 1910; 1100 people were safely landed only two lives were lost. The burned hull of this boat lies in the bottom of the Mississippi River in Bad Axe bend between Genoa and Victory, Wis

Obituary published in the La Crosse Tribune April 16, 1930

Captain G. S. Nichols, Hero of the J. S. Burning Passes at Home in City

Captain George Spencer Nichols, 74, pioneer river pilot and captain, one of the heroes of the old J. S. disaster of 1910, died, at his home 1324 Vine Street, Tuesday afternoon.

Captain Nichols spent over 44 years on the river, serving as pilot and captain throughout most of those years.  He was pilot on the old J. S. under Captain Streckfuss when it burned near Victory on the night of June 25, 1910.

Was J. S. Hero

Under his cool guidance and expert piloting the boat was brought safely to shore and nearly 1800 lives were saved.  After nosing the big craft close to the bank and unloading the passengers, Captain Nichols picked up the hats, coats and other personal belongings and threw them to shore.  He then turned the boat about and swung it to the middle of the stream where he let it burn.

Working during the early part of his career on the river for the P. S. Davidson company and the McDonald Brothers, Captain Nichols speant his last 19 years on the river with the Streckfuss brothers.  He served as captain, pilot and clerk on the large lumber barges that operated on the upper river.

Five years ago he left the river, never to return as captain or pilot.  But before he left he had the honor of piloting the new J. S. and several other of the large Streckfuss boats from their home port of St. Louis.  He piloted the Capital and the St. Paul.

The last 10 years on the river were spent in piloting the large excursion boats from St. Louis.  His last assignment was the new J. S.

Resident Fifty Years

Captain Nichols was a resident of La Crosse for 50 years.  He came here in 1880 from the neighborhood of Galena, ILL., where he was born on October 28, 1855.  His father was a pilot of the old side-wheelers on the lower Mississippi.

Surviving him are one son, William C. Nichols, La Crosse; two sisters, Mrs Mabel Rowley, 1324 Vine Street, and Mrs James Ennis, Chicago; five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.  His wife preceded him in death in 1924.

Funeral services will be held at the Sletten-McKee funeral chapel, Seventh and King streets. Friday at 2:30 pm The Rev. G. H. Marshall will officiate and interment will be made in the Oak Grove Cemetary.

Steamboat Report: Fred Hartweg sternwheeler strikes President Roosevelts boat!

This picture taken at Cairo, IL shows the Fred Hartweg sternwheeler.

Fred Hartweg
1410
Sank:  Richardsons Ldg near Fort Pillow Mississippi River

From the Paducah Evening Sun
Saturday October 5th, 1907

Roosevelt Orders License of Hartwegs Suspended for Ninety Days for Behavior

Claimed Hartweg Crowded President's Boat and Angered Every other Pilot in the Fleet

Evansville, Ind Oct. 5. -- United States Inspector of Hulls Williams for the local port received a telegram signed by President Roosevelt directing that the license for the steamer Fred Hartweg, carrying the Pittsburg delegation in the present river trip be immediately suspended.  The telegram follows:

"Memphis, Tenn, on board U.S.S Mississippi. Surveying Inspector of Vessels, Evansville, Ind.

I direct that the license of the master, or whoever is responsible for the Fred Hartweg during the present voyage, be suspended at once for ninety days.  I wish this done by telegraph wherever the boat is, if such proceeding is possible.  Col. Sears can give you the details of the misconduct which has been of a serious nature and which might at any time have caused an accident to this boat as well as to the other boats"
Theodore Roosevelt

(Steamer Hartweg's home port is Cairo and it is inspected at Evansville.)

Memphis, Oct 5 -- The run down the river was devoid of interest, for the most part, the only enlivening incident being a brief race between the Alton and the Fred hartweg, a fast Ohio boat, with a delegation from Pittsburg on board, which joined the presidential fleet at Cairo, which was a drawn battle.  The ragamuffin behavior of the Fred Hartweg, which repeatedly crowded the boat of the president, angered nearly every other boat's master on the river.  The president seemed to enjoy the situations created by pilot rivalry.  The Hartweg had a party of Pittsburg people on board, and late in the afternoon, just as we approached this place the pilots of the Lily and the Alton pocketed the Hartweg and gave her their smoke.

---

Hartweg Struck boat.

Memphis, Oct 6 -- Report reached Memphis last night that an accident occurred south of Cairo Thursday which came very near causing a wreck of the steamer Mississippi and the loss of the life of the president and all on board.

The St. Louis fleet and other fleets in the river parade met at Cairo after the reception in that city and proceded down without formation, although it was understood the Alton and the McKenzie had the right of way behind the president's boat, the Mississippi.  The Hartweg, containing the Pittsburg delegation, sought to nose the Alton out of its position and while the Alton was seeking to hold the position the Hartweg passed and while running at a rapid rate of speed crashed into the steamer Mississippi.  But for the cool-headed pilot on the Mississippi the wreck might have been very disastrous.  The pilot saw the impending danger and quickly veered the Mississippi aside, thereby averting a serious collision, rendering the blow of the Hartweg a glancing one.

When the Hartweg struck the Mississippi the passengers were thrown down upon the decks and in the rooms, and the president, who was in his dressing room, when he ascertained the trouble, rushed upon the deck in anger.  He immediately framed up a telegram which was sent to the inspector of the Ohio river district at Evansville, Ind., asking that the pilot on the Hartweg be suspended for ninety days if such a thing could be done, and directing him to communicate immediately with Col. Clinton B. Sears of the United States Army for instructions in regard to the matter.

An effort was made to suppress the news, but the newspaper men on board the boats in the flotilla gave out the details

-----

Hartweg Suspended

Evansville, Ind.  Oct. 5 -- Captain Williams, lighthouse inspector fo the Evansville-Cairo district, directed the Memphis inspectors to suspend the captain of the Fred Hartweg.  This action followed the telegram of President Roosevelt requesting that the suspension be made.

The Pittsburgh Press - Apr 6, 1908

Man, suspended through Roosevelt, reinstated.
Capt Nichols, of Fred Hartweg gets new license

After a suspension of six months by the special order of President Theodore Roosevelt.  Clarence Nichols, master of the steamer Fred Hartweg, has been reinstated and a new license issued to him at Memphis.  Nichols underwent the full penalty, although the suspension was characterized as unjust by passengers upon his boat, and an appeal was made to the board of supervising inspectors.

The suspension was made last October.  The Fred Hartweg, it is claimed, had been assigned a place in the steamboat parade from St. Louis to Memphis, just before the Deer Waterways convention.  It is claimed that Nichols left his place and ran ahead of the other boats, nearly running down the President's steamer.  A telegram was at once sent by President Roosevelt, demanding the suspension of Nichols, to the inspector at Memphis.

The Fred Hartweg carried the Pittsuburg delegation to Memphis, which included George W. Theiss, Captain William B. Rodgers, Captain Thomas Rees, Captain W. H. Crump, Secretary J. Frank Tilley, of the Pittsburg Coal Exchange, and others.  Upon their return to Pittsburg several members of the party took exceptions to the allegations, claiming that the President's boat had not been in the slightest danger and denied that Nichols had done anything for which he could be justly suspended.

From the Way Collection at the Cincinnati Library:

Fred Hartweg at Cairo, IL

The Fred Hartweg and the dredge Alipia on the left

Fred Hartweg and Mississippi

The Steamer FRED HARTWEG docked at Elizabeth Marine Ways for repair work on March 22, 1910. She left on April 29, 1910

Steamboat Report: Gleaner Sternwheeler

Gleaner
of Pittsburgh Pa.
1428
West Ky Coal Co.

Other images from the web:

Steamboat Report: Clyde Sternwheeler

Clyde
1773
125 ft x 19 ft x 4 ft
Arrow Transportation Co.
Dismantled Oct 1941

From the Paducah Evening Sun
Saturday October 5th, 1907

St. Louis & Tennessee River Packet Company.
For the Tennessee River Steamer Clyde

Leaves Paducah for Tennessee River Every Wednesday at 4 PM

A.W. Wright - Master
Eugene Robinson - Clerk

This company is not responsible for invoice charges unless collected by the clerk of the boat.

Special excursion rates from Paducah to Waterloo.  Fare for the round trip $8.00.  Leaves Paducah every Wednesday at 4 PM

Other pictures of The Clyde from the web: